Photo Courtesy of Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
“Giving people a safe, supportive space will save lives and bring people in from the streets, improving life for everyone involved,” Dr. Chokshi said.
By Michael V. Cusenza
The country’s first publicly recognized Overdose Prevention Center has opened in Manhattan, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday.
OPCs are an extension of existing harm-reduction services and will be co-located with previously established syringe service providers, City officials noted.
According to the administration, OPCs, also referred to as supervised consumption sites or facilities, are safe places where people who use drugs can receive medical care and be connected to treatment and social services. OPC services are proven to prevent overdose deaths, and are in use in jurisdictions around the world. There has never been an overdose death in any OPC.
A Health Department feasibility study found that OPCs in New York City would save up to 130 lives a year, and will be in communities based on health need and depth of program experience. A host of City agencies will run joint operations focused on addressing street conditions across the five boroughs, and will include an increased focus on the areas surrounding the OPCs as they open.
“The national overdose epidemic is a five-alarm fire in public health, and we have to tackle this crisis concurrently with our COVID fight,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi. “Giving people a safe, supportive space will save lives and bring people in from the streets, improving life for everyone involved. Overdose prevention centers are a key part of broader harm reduction.”
According to City officials, the pioneering facility opens at a critical time. During 2020, over 2,000 individuals died of a drug overdose in New York City, the highest number since reporting began in 2000. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projects that across the United States, more than 90,000 individuals died of a drug overdose during 2020, the worst year on record.
2020 Epi Data Brief highlights:
- The rate of overdose death increased to 30.5 per 100,000 New York City residents in 2020, compared to 21.9 in 2019.
- In 2020, opioids were involved in 85 percent of overdose deaths.
- For the fourth year in a row, fentanyl was the most common substance involved in overdose deaths, present in 77 percent of overdose deaths in 2020.
- By race/ethnicity, Black New Yorkers had the highest rate of overdose death (38.2 per 100,000 residents), and the largest absolute increase in rate from 2019 to 2020 (+14.2 per 100,000).
- From 2019 to 2020, rates of overdose death increased among White New Yorkers (24.3 to 32.7 per 100,000 residents) and Latino/a New Yorkers (27.1 to 33.6 per 100,000 residents). The rate of overdose remained the same among Asian/Pacific Islander New Yorkers (3.3 per 100,000 residents).
- Residents of the Bronx had the highest rate of overdose death in 2020 (48.0 per 100,000 residents) followed by residents of Staten Island (37.0 per 100,000 residents), Manhattan (25.2 per 100,000 residents), Brooklyn (21.1 per 100,000 residents), and Queens (19.9 per 100,000 residents).
According to an ABC News report, the district attorneys for Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan have voiced their approval of supervised consumption sites.
Queens DA Katz said she believes “we must explore all viable public health and safety strategies to save lives and connect drug users to treatment, medical care and critical social services.”
